The Best Books I Read in 2021!

Hi all! This year, or rather last year, I read almost 50 books, which is probably the most I’ll ever read in a year. 😆 Today I’ll be sharing my top 5 novels of 2021! However, I’ll be sharing some honourable mentions as well because I read so many amazing books this year. Also, if you’ve recapped your 2021 in any way on your blog, do share the link in the comments. I’d love to see all the lovely books you’ve read in 2021 too. Alrighty, let’s get into it!

(PS: Click on the book covers to add them to Goodreads.)

5. Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

I loved loved loved Instructions for Dancing…until the ending. Unfortunately, it was too anti-climatic. However, the journey this book puts you through is incredible. The main characters are so lovable, and the writing was humorous yet heart-wrenching. Instructions for Dancing was the perfect mix of emotional yet funny, which in hindsight is an odd combination, but definitely a good one.

4. Made in Korea by Sarah Suk

Made in Korea was my first physical ARC, so it’ll always hold a special place in my heart. I also interviewed the author, you can find that post here! The banter in this book was phenomenally done, to the point where I even want to re-read it, and I never re-read! The entrepreneurial aspect was awesome too.

3. Rumaysa: A Fairytale by Radiya Hafiza

This book surprised me so much! It’s a middle-grade novel that features beautiful illustrations inspired by South Asia. (It’s not a graphic novel though, in case you were wondering. 🙂) Nevertheless, Rumaysa was amazing! The heroine was spunky, and the story was absolutely hilarious! However, it’s the important lessons of following one’s heart and helping others that really stuck with me…and also the delicious descriptions of desi food. *sigh* I’d really love a hot cup of chai and a samosa right now.

2. Once Upon an Eid by A Collection of Authors (Edited by S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed)

Once Upon an Eid made my heart feel so full! It tells a variety of stories, all of which show diverse perspectives and traditions that happen during the month of Ramadan, and on Eid. I felt like I learnt so much about the world through this book. Overall, it was incredibly wholesome and very joyful. I highly recommend it!

1. A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier

And now, in first place I give you 🥁*drumroll please*🥁 A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier! This was one of my first reads of the year, and it was amazingly cozy. It’s essentially a mystery set in the mountains, and I loved it! From the hilarious dialogue, to the warm writing, A Castle in the Clouds is the winter read you’ve been endlessly searching GoodReads for! You can read my full review here.

Honorable Mentions

Both of these books are adventure based, and are very easy reads. In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens was a sweet book with lovely writing. I definitely recommend! Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne was such a fun and enticing book that I recommend to anyone wanting to get into classical novels.

Feel free to read my interview with the author of In Deeper Waters here! I wish I could also interview Jules Verne, but sadly time travelling back to the 1800s will be a difficult feat. You can however, read my full review of Journey to the Center of the Earth here!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite books of 2021. I’m grateful to have read such amazing books, and hope to expand my reading to new genres like fantasy and historical novels. What genres do you hope to read more of in 2022? Have a lovely day!

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January Wrap-Up | aka; My First Wrap-Up!

Hiya everyone! Today I will be ‘hosting’ my first ever wrap-up! I’m super excited for this! However, I have no idea what a wrap-up is supposed to look like, so bear with me here. 😂 Anyways, let’s get into it!

Novels I Read (In order)

Journey to the Center of the Earth By Jules Verne: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars) I really enjoyed reading this classic! It took me 6 months to finish, so I was really happy that I was FINALLY able to mark it as ‘read’ on goodreads. It is 100% worth the read guys! You can read my review for this book here!

This Train Is Being Held By Ismee Williams: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.75 out of 5 stars) I finished this book relatively fast, and I did enjoy it! It’s a cute YA romance that has an almost all latinx cast, which was super cool to see! You can read my review for This Train Is Being Held here.

(eARC) A Pho Love Story By Loan Le: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.8 out of 5 stars) This was my first ARC!! I received an eARC for this novel via Netgalley. Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of A Pho Love Story! It was good, but too long. Overall, I do recommend you read it! You can read my review here!

A Song Below Water By Bethany C Morrow: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.5 out of 5 stars) I wanted to love this book so much! However, it was incredibly confusing, and even boring at times. I found myself not liking the characters that much, except for Effie, Wallace, and Tavia, they were the best! I wanted to love it, but I just couldn’t get into it. I still think it’s worth the read if you love fantasy though. And it does have some searing social commentary! Review to come!

Graphic Novels and Manga read (I doubt this is in order…oops)

Blue Flag Volume 1 By Kaito: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 out of 5 stars) This was an incredibly powerful and stunning manga. I highly recommend you read it if you’re trying to get into reading graphic novels and manga.

Something Is Killing The Children Volume 1 By James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars) This was a very intriguing horror story. Although thrillers aren’t necessarily my favorite genre, I still enjoyed reading it!

(eARC) The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging By Hannalora Leavitt and (Illustrator) Belle Wuthrich: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars) This was a very educational and inspiring read, that I highly recommend you take a look at! Thank you Netgalley and Orca Book Publishers for an eARC of this book!

Ao Haru Ride Volume 9 By Io Sakisaka: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) The art style is phenomenal, but the storyline in this volume was just okay.

(eARC) Rebel Girls Lead: 25 Tales of Powerful Women By Rebel Girls: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) This is more of a non-fiction educational book with pictures versus a graphic novel. I decided to settle on three stars only because I had previously read the two other books by the same author titled ‘Goodnight Stories For Rebel Girls’ which were amazing! In this one however, a lot of the art and stories where repeated, so I didn’t necessary learn anything new. If I hadn’t read the other books beforehand, this would have surely been a 5 star read! Thank you Netgalley, Rebel Girls, and Publishers for an eARC of this book!

(eARC) Dryfoot By Jarred Lujan, Orlando Caicedo, and Warnia Sahadewa: ⭐⭐ (2.5 out of 5 stars) Since Dryfoot is an ARC, I won’t say much about it. However, it was simply not my cup of tea. Thank you Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me with an eARC of Dryfoot!

(eARC) Feelings By Manjit Thapp: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars) Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy reading Feelings. It was okay. The art was beautiful though! Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an eARC of Feelings!

Let’s just say there weren’t many this month 😆

Total Number Of Books Read: 11

Total Number Of Posts Published: 10

Average Rating: 7/10 or 3.5 out of 5 stars

• Cherry @ Letters To The Lost celebrates 50 followers with an ‘Assumptions About Me’ post!
• Sophie @ Me and Ink talks about 30 Graphic Novels she wants to read.
• Ahaana @ Windows To Worlds does a blog tour stop for the novel Glimpsed by G.F. Miller.
• Mary @ Tea Time Lit explains her love for A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea and Tomorrow By Laura Taylor Namey through a wonderful review!
• Em J @ Tea For Teens gives us 5 Study Tips
• Ursa @ Ursa Reads tells us about their 2021 reading goals, as well as provides a re-cap of her year in 2020
• Alice @ Love For Words talks about bookmarks in the most creative and hilarious way ever!
• Hal @ HD’s Reading Life does a fun Wondrous Winter Book Tag!
• Amani @ Amani’s Reviews talks about how The EX-Talk is perfect for fans of podcasts and enemies to lovers.
• Livia’s @ Livia’s Literary Corner tells us the 5 reasons as to why we should read Jade City!

Some of my goals for February include…

• Read the 5 novels on my February TBR
• Finish reading my list of eARCs
• Drink more water for 💫clear skin💫
• Complete my February buddy read novels

And that’s a wrap! Hopefully you enjoyed reading this very long post. Do check out the posts by the other bloggers I listed. Every blogger is unique and amazing in their own way! What was your favorite read of January 2021? Have a wonderful day! 💟

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Journey To The Center Of The Earth | A Review

Hi everyone! Today I bring you the long awaited review of ‘Journey To The Center Of The Earth’ by Jules Verne. After six long months, I finally finished it! I didn’t DNF it, I just got carried away into other books. (And that’s on reading 4 books at the same time.) For those of you who don’t know, this novel is a 295 page classical adventure that takes place in, for the most part, Iceland, England, and the center of the earth.

When German professor Otto Lidenbrock stumbles upon a mysterious, ancient manuscript, it’s the first step in an epic adventure-one which will take him to the planet’s very core! Lidenbrock, together with his nephew Axel and Icelandic guide Hans, mounts an expedition downward through the layers of the Earth, coming face-to-face with strange creatures, overcoming terrific obstacles, and discovering truly wondrous sights.

First, let’s talk about the initial premise of the story. A journey into the earth sounds exciting and fun! I for one have never heard of such a unique plot, so I was rather intrigued to see how it would turn out! However, the plot execution is where the novel falls a bit short. Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely did enjoy reading this classic, but the ending is what really bummed me out. The story had so much potential to grow! There were so many amazing species they talked about, and even saw, but never really discovered. Then again, there is only so much you can do in 295 pages. So overall, the plot execution was just okay. Not incredible, but considering the fact that this was most likely THE FIRST adventure novel out there at the time, I’ll give Mr. Verne a pass.

The characters where actually really interesting. First we have Professor Lidenbrock, who is absolutely hilarious. The novel is told through the eyes of Axel, the professor’s nephew. His sarcastic and rational reactions to his Uncle’s outgoing and determined behavior keeps the story lively and interesting. Hans, their Icelandic assistant, literally saves their butts ten times in row, and it gets even funnier every time. Overall, the characters were simple, yet well-crafted. Not to mention that despite being published in the early 1860s, there were no sexist or racist remarks made by the author in the novel! That pushed me to give this book an immediate extra star.

“Is the Master out of his mind?’ she asked me.
I nodded.
‘And he’s taking you with him?’
I nodded again.
‘Where?’ she asked.
I pointed towards the center of the earth.
‘Into the cellar?’ exclaimed the old servant.
‘No,’ I said, ‘farther down than that.”
― Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth

The dialogue was absolutely hilarious! I never ever got tired of it. The language was so easy to understand, yet it was very descriptive. Speaking of descriptive, Journey To The Center Of The Earth had me playing a literal movie in my head. It was so descriptive, but in a great way! You also learn A LOT about geology and science. However, due to the stressful situations the characters go through, it isn’t nearly as boring as reading a high school geology textbook. (No offense.)

The writing style was surprisingly simple yet energetic. It was quite easy to understand. So if classics intimidate you due to their formal and hard-to-understand nature, this book is a wonderful place to start!

I must say, I really did enjoy Journey To The Center Of The Earth. In my 2021 Winter TBR Post, I talked about how I’ve been reading this book for a while now. The reason behind that is because adventure is simply not my style. I love realistic fiction and contemporary, so that’s why I decided to take a break from the novel for a while. Nevertheless, it was an incredibly spontaneous read, and I highly recommend it to anyone eager to read a good classic novel. If classical reads aren’t your style, this is the story that will hopefully get you out of your comfort zone! (In a good way of course.)

Journey To The Center Of The Earth is a charming classic that everyone should read!

Age Rating: 10 and up

Final Rating: 8/10 or 4.5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Have you read Journey To The Center Of The Earth? If not, what do you think of classical novels? Let me know in the comments down below! Take care and have a fabulous day everyone!

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Five Books On My Winter TBR

Hiya everyone! It’s me Saniya, here to share the five books on my winter TBR! For those of you who don’t know, a TBR is a To Be Read list that includes any books you want to read. What counts as winter you may ask? Anywhere till May would be realistic where I live, but I for the sake of you all, winter is anywhere from January to March. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish all these books by then. Unfortunately though, I am not a fast reader. (I know right, what kind of a book blogger isn’t a fast reader.) Anyways, enough rambling, and let’s get into it! (Please note that all book synopsis are from Goodreads. However, I did alter some.)

1. Journey To The Center Of The Earth

Journey To The Center Of The Earth is about an adventurous geology professor who comes across a manuscript in which a 16th-century explorer claims to have found a route to the earth’s core. Professor Lidenbrock can’t resist the opportunity to investigate, and with his nephew Axel, he sets off across Iceland in the company of Hans Bjelke, a native guide. The expedition descends into an extinct volcano toward a sunless sea, where they encounter a subterranean world of luminous rocks, antediluvian forests, and fantastic marine life — a living past that holds the secrets to the origins of human existence.

The story is told through the eyes of the main character Axel. I am currently reading this book, and have been reading it on and off for the past 5 months. It’s incredibly witty, especially for a classical novel. Journey To The Center Of The Earth is definitely a change of pace compared to the young adult fiction I typically read. I find that it’s actually quite refreshing to read classics from time to time. I sure hope I finish this one soon!

2. The Field Guide To The North American Teenager

Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas. Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs.

I hate to admit it, but I was close to DNFing this one. The main reason for that is because it started to become predictable at around 100 pages. Yes the main character is witty and snarky, but his humor becomes boring after a while. Furthermore, I can 100% relate to Norris, so that is probably why I decided not to DNF it just yet. I am determined to finish it! In January, I actually plan on reading all the books I haven’t finished from 2020. Hopefully I actually succeed this time!

3. This Train Is Being Held

When private school student Isabelle Warren first meets Dominican-American Alex Rosario on the downtown 1 train, she remembers his green eyes and his gentlemanly behavior. He remembers her untroubled happiness, something he feels all rich kids must possess. That, and her long dancer legs. Over the course of multiple subway encounters spanning the next three years, Isabelle learns of Alex’s struggle with his father, who is hell-bent on Alex being a contender for the major leagues, despite Alex’s desire to go to college and become a poet. Alex learns about Isabelle’s unstable mother, a woman with a prejudice against Latino men. But fate—and the 1 train—throw them together when Isabelle needs Alex most. Heartfelt and evocative, this romantic drama will appeal to readers of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.

This Train Is Being Held was easily my most anticipated read of 2020, and of course being the slow reader that I am, I didn’t get to it yet. I cannot wait to read this one!! I just absolutely the book cover, and the cute plot. The book cover is what initially drew me to the novel. I’ve also never read anything from the author, so I am excited to see what they have in store for their readers!

4. Castle In The Clouds

I’ve heard that Castle In The Clouds has a very descriptive story, and gives off a cozy feel, which is great for winter!

Way up in the Swiss mountains, there’s an old grand hotel steeped in tradition and faded splendor. Once a year, when the famous New Year’s Eve Ball takes place and guests from all over the world arrive, excitement returns to the vast hallways. Sophie, who works at the hotel as an intern, is busy making sure that everything goes according to plan. But unexpected problems keep arising, and some of the guests are not who they pretend to be. Very soon, Sophie finds herself right in the middle of a perilous adventure–and at risk of losing not only her job, but also her heart.

I cannot wait to read this one! (I know I’ve said that about every book, but I am just so excited!) Although storyline and plot are important, I’m really just here for the winter-y feel of the novel.

5. He Must Like You

Libby’s having a rough senior year. Her older brother absconded with his college money and is bartending on a Greek island. Her dad just told her she’s got to pay for college herself, and he’s evicting her when she graduates so he can Airbnb her room. A drunken hook-up with her coworker Kyle has left her upset and confused. So when Perry Ackerman, serial harasser and the most handsy customer at The Goat where she waitresses, pushes her over the edge, she can hardly be blamed for dumping a pitcher of sangria on his head. Unfortunately, Perry is a local industry hero, the restaurant’s most important customer, and Libby’s mom’s boss. Now Libby has to navigate the fallout of her outburst, find an apartment, and deal with her increasing rage at the guys who’ve screwed up her life–and her increasing crush on the one guy who truly gets her. As timely as it is timeless, He Must Like You is a story about consent, rage, and revenge, and the potential we all have to be better people.

Consent is something so incredibly important!! Although I typically read books with lighter topics, I just knew I had to read this one, and I think everyone else should too! Real life is messy. In the YA genre, most characters are depicted as perfect and flawless. However in real life, our lives are complicated. Therefore, I think that He Must Like You will be a powerful story about how hard it is to be an assault survivor. It’s immensely important to share these kinds of stories so that survivors of abuse can have a voice, and listeners can be educated.

Those are all the books on my winter TBR! I hope to finish them by March 15th! Have a fabulous day! What books are on your winter TBR?

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